How Quickly a Year Passes

12 December 2015 | Brunswick Landing Marina

Sylvia - lovely working weather

This has been a year of Eos staying in Brunswick as we work to get her painted on deck – not an easy task when the weather is such a major factor. It can't be too cold, too hot, too humid, too wet or too windy or the paint chemistry won't work or we will get a bad paint job. Then there are the times when the no-see-ums are voracious and you can't stand to be outside with them. Right now the weather is beautiful for working but every morning the boat is wet, not just damp, and we have to wait until it dries before we can mask or sand or paint. That means only a half days work. A great deal of patience is required but we do progress although slowly. It has not been all work though. We have had many great times with family and friends this year. The gallery of pictures with this blog entry are the best description of the year.

We had a lovely a lovely Thanksgivings in 2014 with many existing and newly made friends here at the marina. Happy Hours through the year were another way to reconnect. I actually got out our Christmas decorations last year and we had a lovely tree decorating gathering with friends. And, of course, the Christmas was fun with a large gathering in the club houose lounge.

We were sad to see the crews of Valinor and Tres Bien head south but had so many grand times with them while they were here getting ready. The marina has been very active with Happy Hours Monday, Wednesday and Fridays plus potluck dinners the first and third Sundays of every month. Then there are all of the various holiday get-togethers – usually once a monthand the monthly trips to the Confederate Station for down home GA music.

Bill got to celebrate Easter here while I made a quick trip with friends Ann and Lynn. He needed to get to Houston for some heart surgery so I went along to help drive. The surgery went well and all is good with Lynn. The trip also gave me a chance to visit friends LeeAnn and Jerry who had moved there. They are selling Bella so seeing them will become more problematic since they won't be back to the marina. But as with so many of the friends we have made we will keep in touch. Mark and Chris from Silhouette sold their boat and have a bought a house in Houston as well. More reason to get a trip into Texas one of these days.

John and Joan are New Foundland friends on Changing Lanes came through again in the spring as they headed to the Bahamas. What fun to get together with them. We have such happy memories of sailing with them in Nova Scotia. Minnesota friends, the Rhodes, on Jubilee were around and we had Greg Hoffenkamp ,a single-handed sailor we met in Superior, WI, came down for a visit. Again there many people here from many places around the US as well as Canada, Germany, Australia, Scotland, Brazil, Mexico and New Zealand to name a few. Some were long time cruisers and others are just starting off.

As the summer came it became hotter and more humid so we started looking at places to go to be away from GA. In June Bill had his 80th birthday which we celebrated with cake and friends but then after the July 4th celebration we headed to MN for our annual trip to see friends, family and doctors. This year we didn't stay as long a previous years – a week plus at my sister, Diana's, and a week pet and house sitting for her son, Tim. With all of the doctor appointments (everything is fine for both of us) and the lovely wedding of Tim's daughter, Bekah, and our shorter time there we just didn't get a chance to see as many MN friends as we would have liked to have seen. Next trip we will have to do better. As Bill described it, we then pin-balled our way back to Eos. We went from MN to NE to see childhood friends, to MO to see niece, Kim, and most of her family, to TN to see great niece, Shannon and to meet her brand new (2 day old) son Keaton, to NC to see brother, Bruce, to Newnan, GA to see niece, Tami, and then finally back to Brunswick.

Soon after returning we went to Mount Dora, FL to visit Kim and Amy Kelley and their children, Ben and Aislen. Their catamaran was on our dock and we became extended family very quickly. They graciously put up with us for over 3 weeks making sure that we understood that we now have a “home” in FL. They even loaned us one of their cars on Amy's days off (she is an ER Doctor and has a varied schedule). Having the car availablae allowed us to take a couple of quick trips to Ocala, FL to see long time MN friends, Joel and Michelle Towner and to drive over to Melbourne, FL to see Carol and Kent Davenport, long time home town NE friends.

The Kelleys had had the misfortune of getting Wonderstruck, their catamaran impaled on an I-beam in the ICW channel under a local bridge. The I-beam wasn't marked and it was not their fault. A barge was working on the wing gates that mark the channel under the bridge and had not only removed lights but had not buoyed the I-beam that stuck out in to the channel. It punched a Nerf football sized hole in their boat one the side with their batteries and a great deal of their electronics as well as one of their engines. Luckily no one was injured and the boat didn't sink. It was patched and then towed to a boat yard in Jacksonville. FL. After over $100,000 in repairs they are about ready to be relaunched. They had good insurance so that wasn't an issue but the insurance company will certainly be going after someone – the repair company or the state of Georgia. You just can't create a hazard to navigation like that in marked water ways. We had hoped to be able to cruise together with them this spring. Time will tell.

We have a freedom we have not had before because when Tim and Dorothea on Valinor left the first of November we worked a deal where we paid the difference in “parked” versus “being driven” insurance on their car. What great friends they are to do that for us. We are truly spoiled right now. We are even able to head to Newnan, GA to niece, Tami's for Christmas with her family, her dad (my brother)Scott and her brother Randy and his Sue and my brother Bruce and his son Bob. Will be fun to be with family for the holidays.

This year not only did we expand our extended family with the Kelleys but also not only added a great, great nephew but two great, great nieces. As mentioned we have seen Keaton and look forward to seeing both Marian and Kinsley one of these days. Since we turned 70 and 80 this year it is wonderful to see the next generations come along and to imagine what the future will hold for them. Not that we are ready to be done yet, of course. We are still enjoying our life style in spite of the work it takes to maintain it. We are both healthy, we have made and continue to make great friends. And as we say to each other after a tiring day working on Eos, “Well, it is better than sitting on a porch in a rocking chair”.

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Lots of Miles, Lots of Time, Lots of Friends and Family, Lots of Work

16 November 2014 | Brunswick, GA

Sylvia - gorgeous today

4/27/2014 - 11/16/2014

What a lot can happen in 7 months, especially when 4 of them were spent off of Eos and traveling around. But with the fun, work, scares and everything else that goes with not only living but living on a boat we have done just fine.

We spent May and June in Brunswick enjoying the friends we have made and continue to make there. We started off soon after our return with a great breakfast gathering of the current and past (that's us) dock mates from Dock 2. It was a lovely time and we met more new sailors, Canadians who were temporarily docked while one of the 2 boats had to do some repairs. We aren't the only ones that get to enjoy that part of cruising, you know. Now Sinclair on Wise Owl is off sailing, Sam and Mae have Miramichi for sail, the Canadians are long gone, and only Mike and Susan on Pogo and George on Joy Bird and Jules and Karin on La Contessa VII are still on Dock 2. We certainly made some great friends while on Dock 2. But things change and people move on but what a joy to have such wonderful times with them when we can and to keep in touch.

And, of course, we met more fun folks at our new slip on Dock 7 - Mark and Chris on Silhoutte, and Kathleen and Mike on Content. There were many fun outings with them and others to Fox's for pizza as well as games of Chickenfoot and a visit to the Confederate Station by a large contingent of sailors including Dave and Paula on Vesta and Linda and Geoff on "unnamed" boat. And to make sure we were reminded of how small the world is, we met Susan and Brent at happy hour and discovered they were from Mahtomedi, MN, one of the suburbs on White Bear Lake where we first started our sailing adventures. They even owned the Piccadilly restaurant where we had eaten several times. What a kick to meet them and chat about MN. Bill and Judy Rohde brought Jubilee back from Puerto Rico and have her up for sale. While they were still here getting her ready to show, John and Joan from Changing Lanes came through on their way to Deltaville to put her on the hard for the winter. That meant a great night out at Cilantro's with them - long time friends from MN and the first close friends we made cruising down from MN.

We hated to leave everyone but the end of June it was time to take Eos south to Fernandina Beach, FL and Bill Kavanaugh's Tiger Point Boat Yard and Marina for bottom paint and a new paint job on the hull. She was looking pretty ratty and we decided to have it done while Bill had his hip replaced.

July we headed up to MN for the hip surgery and other doctor visits and a chance to see family and friends there. We arrived in time to see my brother Scott and friends, Jerry and Di as they passed through MN on their way home to NM after a month's long motorcycle trip. Sister Kit and her family as well as nephew Bob came through later in July on their way to northern MN camping. It was just lucky that we were be able to see so much family as their travels synched up with ours.

Bill's surgery was the 7/17 and all went well. We spent 2 months at my sister, Diana's, and she graciously let us have her first floor bedroom for the first 2 weeks after the surgery. A couple of weeks after the surgery Sylvia took off to Serpent Lake to childhood friend Nancy's cabin. Kris from MN, Gayle from CA and Mary Lynn from NE were there as well and we 5 childhood friends had a wonderful and relaxing 4+ days at the lake with beautiful MN summer weather.

Because we were in MN we had time to get together with family and friends without pushing Bill's recuperation too much. Diana's whole family made it to a picnic (forgot the camera that day, darn!). Even Aaron, Amanda and Hallie Rose (first time to see her) made it over from WI. That was the first time they have all been together with us around for many years. Nephew Randy and his friend Sue biked up from Omaha one week-end to see us. So this was the year to see all of the family on this trip but Bruce and all of his bunch except Bob. We were so glad to be able to see so many. The family is spread out all over the country and only Bruce and Scott's Tami are within a day's drive of us when we are in Brunswick.

There were lots of get togethers with friends as well - Rohdes, LeBlancs, Nellessens, Sheldons, Pitmons, Kelsey Bruso, Wicklunds, and Budds. And as always the annual Sunday Breakfast brunch at Billy's in Anoka with the Robinson's and Greenbushes. Of course, we were there in the summer and an active time in MN, so there we friends we weren't able to connect with but they were in certainly in our thoughts. Sylvia even got a couple of games of Chickenfoot in with Diana and some of her friends.

After we got the okay from Bill's surgeon and physical therapist the beginning of September, we started our trek back to Florida. We had kept in touch with the boat yard and knew that they had a very, very rainy couple of months which had delayed the paint jobs on Eos. They could sand her down in the wet, humid weather but putting on any fillers, base coats or paint just couldn't be done and have a job that would last. So knowing they weren't ready for us to show up in FL we took our time getting back. We headed to the southeast by first going southwest to Lincoln, NE to see more of Sylvia's childhood friends. We spent several relaxing days with the Swartzs. A girls lunch meant seeing more long time Fairbury friends while a day trip to Beatrice meant brunch with the Rothwells.

Then it was off to Fort Leonard Wood, MO to see neice Beth and finally get to meet her husband Brandon. We spent a day with them and then were off to Newnan, GA to niece Tami's for a couple of days before continuing on to FL to see what was happening.

Work was progressing on Eos but there was still much to do and we couldn't live on her while it was being done so we took Tami up on her invitation to come back if we needed to. Then it was almost 3 more weeks in Newnan with Tami and family. She and Steve were off on a week's Mediterranean cruise the first week we returned but Nephew Bob was there taking care of Blane and the pets while doing some landscaping for them. Good thing we have such great family who will put up with us itinerants.

While there Bill got into writing a short story. He woke up one morning with this idea/plot in mind and worked diligently for a couple of weeks getting it filled out and written down. And it isn't bad for a first effort, at all. He is busy writing part 2 now and has a part 3 conclusion in mind. Grandma Moses began to paint late in life, so Bill can certainly discover a new talent and begin writing at his age.

We returned to Eos mid-October and stayed at the Travel Lodge in Kingsland where we had stayed before, driving back and forth everyday to Fernandina so Bill could work on the mast while it was lying on saw horses, and then help clean up all of the stainless pieces that were taken off the stern so Eos would fit in the shop and so the arch could be painted. Linda and Ric on Magic were at St. Mary's just across the bay from Fernandina so we got to have fun with them several times. We also found a day when we could drive to Melbourne to visit Kent and Caol Davenport, high school friends from NE who had just moved there.They have a lovely house and it is great that they are only 4 hours away.

Finally things were done enough that we could move back on Eos even though she was still on the hard. But, oh, were we glad to be home and to sleep in our own bed. We actually moved back in on a Friday and it was very propitious that we did. That night and week-end there were very high winds. A house in the area even lost it's roof to a gust. Probably the same one that hit us broadside about 6 that Saturday morning. We were awakened by a loud noise and Eos shifted on the stands. We grabbed Spanker and rushed down the stairs to discover that the gust was strong enough to move her so that one of the jack stands holding her from tipping had fallen down and another one was partially down. When on the hard the actual weight of the boat is on the keel and the jack stands are to keep her upright on the keel. Now she was tilted about 5 degrees and resting against the metal staircase we use to get aboard. The remaining jack stands wouldn't be able to keep her from tipping if we got another gust like that one. Luckily, Greg, one of the fellas who has worked at the yard, was on his boat and knew where more jack stands, pads, and chains were . We quickly got busy and she ended up with 17 jack stands instead of the original 7 which in normal circumstances are enough. We spent the rest of that windy week-end living on the slant until Monday morning when the fellows got the travel lift around Eos and straightened her out. This was another case of being where we were meant to be. Had we not moved back on board the day before she very likely would have toppled over and ended up against their building do who knows what damage to her hull, mast, rigging, their barn and the boat that was inside the barn. We were very lucky. We only ended up with a couple of small 1" dinks from the metal ladder in the new paint job and the painters were able to repair those so well that we can't even show anyone where they were. About a week later, the sails were back on, the deck canvas that was out for repair was re-installed, the Windex on the top of the mast was replaced (damaged by the crane when the mast went back up) and we were back in the water. Hurrah!!

There was a good one day weather window and we headed out on 11/13 and had a quiet trip back to Brunswick. We had been gone for almost 5 months and most of that we were on the hard or away from Eos. We stopped for a pump out and Kathleen from Content came down to greet us. We had thought we wouldn't see them again but family issues mean they are back. Luckliy, she came aboard and motored with us to Dock 11. The marina is very full so we were put in a slip again which turned out to be a challenge this time (Bill was running a fever and not feeling well so his reaction times were slow and the maneuvering room was tighter than on Dock 7). But with help from Dennis on Alpha Wave and John on Tenacious fending us off of Dock 10 and its boats and the marina staff and Gordon on Tres Bien, Mike on Content, and others on Dock 11 we got her in the slip with only a minor bend on the dinghy davit where it ended up against the cement pilon for a short time. Boy, were we glad to get tied up. Bill immedidately went below and to bed.

He is better now and I borrowed Silhoutte's car for a big grocery run now that we had refrigeration again. So we are ready to begin cleaning her up inside and out after all of that time. Friends from Vesta, Sea Tramp , Joy Bird, and others have stopped by or called or greeted us on our way in. We watched the recording of the MET's prduction of Terandot with Judith and Gordon on Tres Bien and others yesterday afternoon in the lounge. There is Chicken Foot tonight and the weather today is gorgeous after a couple of really cold days. What more could we ask right now? Nothing!

We had a longer than planned time off of Eos but she is now beautiful - almost. We still have to sand and paint the fiberglass in the cockpit and cabin roof but it can be done is stages. We got to see many long time friends and lots of family over the summer and fall. And we are back with so many of our cruising friends. Life is good.

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Engine Runs 44 Hours and NO Problem HURRAY

27 April 2014 | Brunswick, GA

Sylvia - lovely day

3/28/2014 - 4/27/2014

The Cummins mechanic made it to the boat on Monday and after looking at the system which he told Bill was a good system - right size hoses, etc. he concluded that it was a vacuum in the day tank that was causing the problem. He suggested we put a vacuum gauge on the fuel hose just as it connects to the engine and to make sure the air vent is clear on the day tank. All of this Bill could do, of course. The gauge was attached but the end of the air vent hose was located near the mast and there was no way to get to it but pull the mast. That wasn't going to happen. So Bill took the hose directly off the nipple on the day tank and capped it off. When he took it off about 1-2 tsps. of diesel came out. It shouldn't have been in there. Bill figured that it got sloshed in during some heavy seas and there was a low spot in the hose run where it settled and as we used the fuel from and refilled the day tank it slowly caused the vacuum. Of course, once the hose came off the vacuum was broken. A new air vent hose system was installed so that we could always get to the end of the hose to make sure it wasn't plugged. We then ran the engine under some load at the dock for 7 ½ hours with no problem. But since we were still speculating that we knew the problem and had fixed it we decided that Puerto Rico and even the Bahamas were out of the picture until we had lots of hours on the engine. The problem had last occurred after 16 hours so we figured that a 2 day run from Lake Worth, FL back to Brunswick, GA would be a good enough test to convince us that all was good again.

We needed some stitching done on both of the head sails and with Mack Sails right there we stayed long enough to have them taken care of rather than having to ship them somewhere from Brunswick. Two very nice guys came down after about a week on a very windy day and among the 4 of us we got both of them down and bagged up. Off they went to the sailmaker's. It was a busy time for them but they were quite good about getting to them in a little over a week. After they were returned to the boat, we put them back on and it was time to look for a good weather window.

During this time we did boat cleaning and such, wandered over to the mega yacht part of the marina and gawked at the truly huge boats both power and sail. David and Jim West-Weis, friends in Fort Lauderdale came up one day for lunch with David's parents who were taking a break from the ugly Minnesota weather. It was great to see them all. Then a couple of weeks later Jim and David came back up for lunch again. All in all it was a very quiet several weeks for us.

Finally our weather window came a few days after we had the sails returned and we left Rybovich North at 1800 the 24th. We had to have both a weather window and high tide in the daylight so we could get out the tricky channel from the marina to the ICW that passes by Peanut Island in Lake Worth. We got out of the marina channel just fine and then didn't turn sharply enough around the ICW marker and promptly went aground. We were only about 5' from the deepest part of the ICW channel but it was also only 5' deep there - not deep enough for our 7+' draft. It was high tide and going out so we had to call TowBoatUS again and have them come pull us off. They were based right there at Rybovich and had moved us from a long dock to a slip and later came and helped us get extra bow lines on the pylons before the big blow came in. Then with 3 calls to them this trip we certainly have a great appreciation for the jobs they do. And they were such nice fellas as well.

After getting unstuck and going again, it was a 44 hour motor up the coast. We didn't even go out and pick up the Gulf Stream in order to use it to boost us along. It was 12 miles from Lake Worth (it is usually 4-5 miles away) and it just continues to become further from shore as you go north. There were predicted north winds half way through our trip and you don't want to be in the Stream with north winds blowing against a north moving current. It makes for ugly seas. We were able to motor sail some hours but the vast majority of the trip was straight motoring. The winds did clock around to northerlies so were on our nose. Luckily, they were mild winds and because of all the changes in wind direction as it clocked around the seas were 1-2' for the whole distance. No storms and beautiful night skies both nights. It was a new moon that didn't rise until 0500. We hadn't seen stars like that since Lake Superior.

We arrived at Brunswick Landing Marina at 1500 Saturday afternoon. We were so sensitive to the sounds the engine was making, hoping not to hear the problem sounds, that a different sound we heard just as we passed under the bridge a mile or so before the marina caused both of us to catch our breaths. But Bill decided it was not the engine but rather a bubble in the hydraulic fluid in our transmission system. Whew!!! We made it. We pumped the head, filled the diesel tanks and moved up to Dock 7 to our new location here. All of the T-heads are gone. They have a large number of big boats here this year. We fit fine in the slip and now will have folks on both sides of us for a change. The folks already here on the dock are mostly new this year but most of them came down to our slip after we arrived. They all seem very pleasant and fun. Folks from our old dock 2 as well as other friends have come by either walking or by dinghy. It has been great to reconnect with them and they as well as the new folks will make our stay a pleasant one for sure.

We have decided to take advantage of the fact that we are still in the States and are going back to MN for July and August to get Bill's other hip replaced. He is scheduled for surgery July 17. We will stay at my sister's in Eagan and as Bill heals for 5-6 weeks we will get a chance to connect with lots of folks in MN. Then it will be back to GA until hurricane season is over in November. Then it is plan for the next season - Puerto Rico or just the Bahamas. Who knows?! That is 7-8 months away.

Bill is a retired but hopefully will be again a fine artist who quit painting in 1991 to spend full-time finishing the hull and deck we had purchased. Now 18 years later he is ready to be co-captain as we we sail out the Great Lakes to become full-time cruisers. [...]
Sylvia is retired from Unisys where she worked in SW programming to make the money to afford to complete the dream. She, too, is now ready to co-captain Eos as we head toward warmer climes and a whole new life style